1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the presentation of a Point of Interest (POI) information map, and more particularly, to the technique for using verified data of the POIs corresponding to different time periods to present only verified POIs in an electronic map.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the method for presenting POIs in an electronic map generally involves the steps of searching a specific database according to a search query input by a user, and then presenting all of the searched POIs in the electronic map. Taking the Google Map application as an example, it provides a service interface for a user to input a shop name, searches databases or the Internet for geographic information of one or more shops matching the shop name, and finally, presents the searched shop(s) and the area where the searched shop(s) is(are) located by an electronic map via the service interface. However, as time goes by, data of the searched shop(s) may be outdated or incorrect because the searched shop(s) has been moved or closed, and it would reflect upon the reliability of the map. For this reason, the user needs to double-check the data on the map or consider the reliability of map. It is burdensome for the user.
FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a map search using the Google Map application. For a user inputting a search query—“XX restaurant”, different geographic information and various kinds of discussions are searched from databases and the Internet and presented on the electronic map. Most search results come from the iPeen website and indicate that the XX restaurant is located in the denoted A spot in the electronic map, and other search results indicate that the XX restaurant is located in the denoted B or C spot in the electronic map. The user has to check and confirm the displayed information on the electronic map by other information, so as to know that the XX restaurant located in the denoted C spot is closed in the 2009 year, the XX restaurant located in the denoted A spot is moved to the denoted B spot in the 2010 year, and the XX restaurant is still open at the denoted B spot lately. That means the correct location of the XX restaurant is in the denoted B spot, and the denoted A and C spots are incorrect search results due to outdated information from the database or Internet. Thus, by using the conventional map search techniques, e.g., the Google Map application, it is inconveniences for the users to obtain the search results containing incorrect, outdated, or unverified information.